1) He's reelected next year, which certainly seems more likely than not, and2) The Dems manage to retake the Ohio governorship, which allows Brown's successor to be appointed by a Democratic governor (this is much dicier, but certainly possible), then

Brown is the odds on favorite to be the 2020 Dem. VP nominee. In fact, even factoring in the fact that those two things are uncertain, I'd still put him as the favorite. The one main argument against him would be if the presidential nominee wanted a "diversity" pick. If, say, Biden or (lol) Cuomo is the presidential nominee, then there's a good chance they'd pick a racial minority or a woman. But if the presidential nominee is Warren or Harris or Booker or Gillibrand, then yeah, Brown would be high on the list. Heck, if the presidential nominee is Bernie Sanders, I'd say Brown is also high on the list, as Sanders's age will mean that he'll want to pick a running mate who is both qualified to take over as president and committed to carrying out his economic agenda, and there are only so many people who qualify.

It's also possible that someone breaks out in the 2020 primaries but doesn't win the nomination, and that puts them on a fast track to the vice presidency, a la Kerry picking Edwards in '04. But more often than not, the VP pick isn't someone who ran for president that year.

He's easily the biggest dark horse on the Democratic side of the aisle. There were a few rumblings right after the election about a potential candidacy from him but not anymore. He's almost completely out of the discussion as of right now and that's a good thing for him this early on.

If I'm not mistaken he stated at one point something along the lines of "Everybody says they aren't running until they run." I think he'll jump into 2020.

He's easily the biggest dark horse on the Democratic side of the aisle. There were a few rumblings right after the election about a potential candidacy from him but not anymore. He's almost completely out of the discussion as of right now and that's a good thing for him this early on.

If I'm not mistaken he stated at one point something along the lines of "Everybody says they aren't running until they run." I think he'll jump into 2020.

I think the reason the rumblings have subsided is because of his re-election campaign. Like Morden said, if he's re-elected (likely) and a Democrat wins the governorship (dicey), then talk of Brown will increase.

He's easily the biggest dark horse on the Democratic side of the aisle. There were a few rumblings right after the election about a potential candidacy from him but not anymore. He's almost completely out of the discussion as of right now and that's a good thing for him this early on.

If I'm not mistaken he stated at one point something along the lines of "Everybody says they aren't running until they run." I think he'll jump into 2020.

I think the reason the rumblings have subsided is because of his re-election campaign. Like Morden said, if he's re-elected (likely) and a Democrat wins the governorship (dicey), then talk of Brown will increase.

I'd be concerned going into 2018 if the Democrats can't win the gubernatorial race and/or Brown loses his senate seat during a Trump midterm where his approvals will likely range from 30-37%. Not that a Democrat can't win in 2020, but it increases the chances that it'll be a very weak polarizing victory where they'll immediately be in trouble with their slim majorities come 2022 and 2024.

No, not with his wife-beating past. I don't even think he's the likeliest Ohioan 2020 Democratic VP nominee -- that would be Tim Ryan, who has more obvious national ambitions and fewer obvious skeletons in his closet (though I guess he did used to work for Traficant).

Brown being on the ticket would be a bad decision even if Dems win the Ohio governorship. There's no way some random state legislator manages to hold on to a seat in ruby-red Ohio.

That may be, but most presidential nominees don't think that way when deciding on a running mate. Heck, Clinton reportedly gave Brown serious consideration for VP last year, despite the fact that Kasich would have picked his replacement.

“I come from here, I know how to win elections here — I get all that,” Brown said. “But I just don’t want to do it.”

In other words, Sherrod Brown will never want to run for president. Unless, of course, one day, he does.

The story also includes a lot of discussion about Brown’s participation in the veepstakes last year. Despite his current denial of interest in running for prez, he says that he “relished” the idea of campaigning in other Midwestern states, had he been the VP nominee last year:

Quote

He relished the idea of campaigning in the Midwest, he says now, and offered to live out of a bus that would spend all its time in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Three days before the selection he heard from “someone who knows this process” that it was down to him and Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. Later, after Kaine was unveiled as the No. 2, Brown says he heard from a former high-ranking Democratic official that Clinton had initially picked him but changed her mind.

Assuming Biden or Sanders don't run/win, then yes, I'd say he's got as good a shot as any other white male, and is definitely on the short list (as of now, that is).

Morden, I disagree that Brown would be likely in the case of a Sanders win. Sure, Sanders would want someone that shared his economic vision, but who Sanders wants, and who Sanders would ultimately pick, are two different things.

There would be too much pressure for him to pick a minority, female, or both. This would be further aggravated by the fact that if Sanders is winning, that means he most likely beat a female, or a minority, or both (a la Harris). There is likely to be a lot of discord in the party because of that, and the pressure for Sanders to pick a non-white male will be too great for him.

Consider that Sanders has not particularly shown a lot of backbone when it comes to standing up to challenges. Take his stance on illegal immigration, which he pulled a sudden, complete 180 on because of a Vox interview with Ezra Klein, of all people. He'd cave even faster on this.